Multiple trunk tree

The aerial roots of the banyan tree hang down and when they grow long enough will touch the ground. On that spot itself they may take root in the soil and so continue growing as a semi-independent tree. That’s what we see here, around this banyan in Lucknow. This process can go on and on and at some point you may not be able to see any more from where it started.

Wikipedia gives some examples of very big banyan trees, like the one in the botanical gardens of Kadiri town in Andhra Pradesh. It has a foliage canopy of 19,107 m2, making it the biggest tree in the world.

When there is constraint of space like in villages and towns, the aerial roots may come down on buildings and force their way through. On the photo below we see how a little door got half demolished by a banyan. This is why banyans are sometimes called ‘strangler figs’.